


Welcome Aboard The ASV Hornet

by foobar137



Series: Adventures of the ASV Hornet [1]
Category: Phineas and Ferb
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, Characters Writing Fanfic, Characters Writing Self-Insert Fanfic, Community: trope_bingo, F/M, Future Fic, Mary Sue, Resolved Romantic Tension, Space Adventure fanfic, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Trope Bingo Round 2, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-25
Updated: 2013-08-25
Packaged: 2017-12-24 13:45:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,719
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/940670
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foobar137/pseuds/foobar137
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Isabella has taken to writing Space Adventure fanfic, and her latest story involves some characters who seem awfully familiar. Maybe Phineas will realize that she’s dropping another hint? Teen Phinbella one-shot. Trope bingo: au-space.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Welcome Aboard The ASV Hornet

**Author's Note:**

> Trope Bingo: au-space
> 
> This ended up more ‘Star Trek pastiche’ than anything else, I think; I tend to think of Space Adventure as more Star Wars-like. But it works, so...yeah. Besides, it’s in-universe fanfic, so maybe she's focusing on one element of the greater Space Adventure universe.
> 
> Timeframe: Summer before sophomore year of high school. Characters are about fifteen.
> 
> Characters in Isabella's fanfic:  
> Captain Anna Kaufman-Hernandez [Isabella]  
> First Officer: Commander Kepheus Connors [Phineas]  
> Science: Lt. Commander Magda Hahn [Gretchen]  
> Engineering: Lt. Commander Bowyer (Hephaestan) [Ferb]  
> Helm: Lieutenant Mei Utada [Ginger]  
> Navigation: Lieutenant Raji Rai [Baljeet]  
> Security: Lieutenant Roger de Groot [Buford]  
> Medical: Lt. Commander Georgia Jones [Holly]

Phineas lay back on the couch with his tablet computer. His mother had made an incredible dinner tonight, and all he wanted to do now was relax and see what had happened while he was busy inventing with his friends.

He noticed that he had email waiting, from AO3. A new Space Adventure story had been posted by UltraFSGChief. _Ooh, Isabella finished that fanfic she was working on. I wonder why she didn’t let me beta this one for her like I usually do._

With a shrug, he pulled up the story.

 

 

* * *

**Welcome Aboard the ASV Hornet**  


by UltraFSGChief

Rating: General Audiences

Fandom: Space Adventure - All Media Types, Space Adventure (original starships)

No Archive Warnings Apply

Category: M/F

Relationship: OFC/OMC (UST only)

Additional Tags: Original ship, original characters, ASV Hornet, first adventure together, Unresolved Sexual Tension

Part 1 of the Adventures of the ASV Hornet

Summary: The Hornet is about to go on an anti-piracy patrol when her new first officer comes on board. But Captain Anna Kaufman-Hernandez seems interested in the new first officer for more than just his command abilities...  First in a new series, please R&R!

* * *

**Many thanks to SesquipedalianFSG for beta above and beyond the call of duty! Thank you _so_ much for catching my spelling and vocabulary mistakes!**

**This is the first of what I hope will be a series of stories about an original ship in the Space Adventure universe, the ASV Hornet, and her crew. The Hornet is an Essex-class escort cruiser, smaller than the Endeavour-class cruisers. This is set around the time of Space Adventure 19.**

* * *

Captain Anna Kaufman-Hernandez and her second officer, Lt. Commander Magda Hahn, waited in the mat-trans room. The normal mat-trans operator stood to one side, as Chief Engineer Bowyer had taken over the control panel for this important transfer.

In a low voice, Anna talked to her friend and second officer, who had been acting first officer since the untimely death of Commander Byron Abernathy on a shore party a month prior. “I’m sorry I couldn’t swing the promotion, Magda,” she said. “I think we’d be better off bumping you to full commander and giving you the first officer slot permanently, but Space Fleet Command felt you didn’t have enough time-in-rank.”

“Not your fault, chief,” the auburn-haired second officer said, cleaning her glasses. “Besides, this Connors guy’s record looks impressive.”

Anna shrugged and brushed back her long, raven-black hair. “It’s odd. He was fast-tracked for engineering, and was chief engineer and second officer for the ASV Shangri-La. And then he ended up in temporary command when the officers above him were killed in a pirate attack, and did so well they moved him to the command track. His commander stripes are still so new they probably squeak when he turns around.”

His face a mask beneath his green hair, as always, Lt. Commander Bowyer quietly said, with the calm demeanor typical of Hephaestans, “Space Fleet Base Omicron-4 reports ready to transfer, Captain.”

Anna nodded at him. “Execute,” she said.

With a careful slide of the controls, a human form took shape on the mat-trans platform, resolving into the man she’d so far only seen a holo-image of. He was tall and lean, with a sharp, distinctive nose and a shock of red hair that he’d clearly attempted (unsuccessfully) to tame. He stepped off the mat-trans plate briskly, approaching her, and looked at her with those deep, penetrating blue eyes. They were so much more vivid in person, and he projected an energy she’d rarely seen. She found herself wishing she’d met him elsewhere - anywhere else, instead of as his commanding officer. Because as his commanding officer, she couldn't fall in love with him, and she desperately wanted to be in love with this incredibly handsome man.

With a salute, he said, “Permission to come aboard, Captain?”

Anna quickly found her voice, and said, “Granted, Commander. Welcome aboard the ASV Hornet. I’m Captain Anna Kaufman-Hernandez, and this is my second officer, Lieutenant Commander Magda Hahn.”

“Commander Kepheus Connors, reporting as ordered.”

“Excellent. Commander Hahn will give you a tour of the ship, and then we’ll meet in my briefing room so we can discuss your duties. I’ll see you there.”

Magda stepped up. “Mr. Bowyer, here, is our Chief Engineer.”

Kepheus broke into a bright, dazzling grin, and she barely resisted the urge to sigh. “We’ve met,” he said, and went over to give Bowyer a hug, which the normally-stoic Hephaestan responded to more enthusiastically than Anna had never seen. “Bowyer was my roommate back in the academy. His help got me through quantum mechanical engineering.”

“And you returned the favor by helping me through hyper field analysis,” Bowyer responded.

“We’ll have to meet up and talk about the ship, later.” Kepheus said, and Magda led him off toward their next encounter.

* * *

Magda said, “So, I’m head of Science, and Lieutenant Commander Bowyer is head of Engineering. Our first stop is with the head of Medical.” They reached the door of Med-Bay, which opened as they approached. A stunning woman with dark brown skin and a cloud of black hair around her head looked up, then smiled as she stood up.

“Commander Connors, this is our Chief Medical Officer, Lieutenant Commander Georgia Jones. Georgia, this is Commander Kepheus Connors, our new first officer.”

“Pleased to meet you,” Kepheus said. “I read your paper on curing Altairean Nanovirus while I was in transit from the Shangri-La; it was brilliant work.”

“Thank you. We encounter so many interesting medical issues out on exploration duty, I get to try all sorts of new ways of curing them. When one works, I write it up.”

They talked briefly about some of her more promising research, then headed to their next destination.

Kepheus looked slightly embarrassed, and said, “Commander Hahn...thank you for this. I’m going to be leaning on you a lot for the crew knowledge I don’t have yet. You’ve got more time at first officer than I do now, so I’m going to need your advice at least as much as the captain needs mine.”

“Understood,” she said. “Come on, let’s go introduce you to the head of Security.”

* * *

The security office was occupied by a large, muscular man wearing the obligatory bright-red shirt. “You must be the new first officer,” he said, saluting Kepheus.

“I am. Commander Kepheus Connors,” he said, holding out his hand.

“Lieutenant Roger de Groot,” the security officer said in his raspy voice. “Head of security.” He grasped Kepheus’s hand and gripped it firmly. “Nice to meetcha.”

“So, what do I need to know about the security crew?”

“There were four security officers killed with Commander Abernathy. Morale’s kinda low right now.”

Kepheus nodded. “Noted, and thank you. If you’ve got suggestions on what we can do, I’m all ears.”

Magda, behind him, said, “We’ve made counseling available and encouraged people to use it, but...”

Kepheus nodded. “Security is proud of being stoic sometimes. I’ll see what I can think of to help.”

* * *

Their final stop was the bridge, where Magda relieved a lieutenant in the command chair. “Alpha shift bridge crew is generally me at conn, Lieutenant Mei Utada at helm, and Lieutenant Ravi Rai at navigation.” The latter two turned briefly from their consoles and nodded at him; the former, a young Japanese woman with medium-length black hair, the latter an Indian young man with a mass of curly hair on his head.

“The captain’s waiting for you through there,” she said. Kepheus approached the door and pressed the annunciator chime; from the other side, he heard the captain say, “Enter,” and the door opened.

He entered and took the offered seat across from her. “Just a moment, I need to finish this,” she said, poking at her console, and he took the opportunity to look at her.

He’d known she was beautiful from the holo-image in her file, but it truly didn’t do her justice. Long, flowing black hair framing a perfectly-shaped face, vibrant midnight-blue eyes that could look right through to your soul, skin just slightly touched with color from her mixed Mexican-Jewish heritage, and a figure that even the utilitarian Space Fleet uniform couldn’t hide. _I hope it won’t be too awkward that I think my captain is hot_ , he thought.

She finished her work and looked up at him. “So, your opinion of the ship?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“She’s a great ship, and looks to have an excellent crew,” he said. “I’m a bit concerned about Security - four losses in one department is fairly traumatizing, and they seem to be resistant to counseling.”

“Yes, Lieutenant Commander Hahn mentioned that and was trying to figure out a solution when we received notice that you were being assigned to us.”

“I’ll see about a plan to help there. Any other issues that I need to worry about in the short term?”

She sat back and smiled. “Not especially. The main issue coming up is a briefing for captains and first officers at Space Fleet Station Psi-2 in six days. The Hornet will be on piracy interdiction patrol nearby, so she’ll drop us off and then we’ll catch up in a hypershuttle.”

_Alone with her in a hypershuttle. Maybe...no. I’m a Space Fleet officer, and she is my superior, and anything between us is strictly against regulations._

Cutting off that train of thought, he said, “About Lieutenant Commander Hahn - I suspect I know why Space Fleet Command didn’t give her the first officer slot, even though she arguably deserves it more than I do.”

Anna raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“She’s about six months outside the zone for promotion to Commander. And in about nine months, the first of the new mobile-repair ships, the ASV Tesla, will come on line. I was told - off the record - that they’re thinking my engineering experience would make me a good fit for the first officer berth on her. And so, in nine months, you’ll have an officer ready for promotion and an open slot to promote her into...”

Anna nodded, following his reasoning. “That makes sense, and meshes with a couple little things I’d heard. Thank you. I do hope that doesn’t mean you’ll be treating this as a short-term berth, though, Commander.”

“Not at all, Captain. My duty is to the Hornet right now, and I intend to fulfill that duty. Do you have a preference for my watch schedule?”

“Ideally, I’d like you to take conn for alpha watch, so that Magda can get back to her research.”

“Is there a regular dinner schedule for senior officers?”

“No, I prefer that the senior staff eat with the rest of the crew to provide a communications conduit.”

“Understood. In that case, with your permission, I’ll go track down my quarters, and if I don’t run into you at dinner, I’ll see you at 0800 tomorrow for alpha watch.”

“Why don’t we plan to meet up for dinner? 1900 in the officer’s mess?”

He tried to read the look on her face; she looked almost embarrassed to have made the offer. _It can’t hurt to get to know my captain better, I suppose._

“Certainly, Captain.”

“Dismissed, then, Commander.”

* * *

_Why did I do that?_ Anna thought. _He’s my first officer. Practically the worst possible type of fraternization. I can’t even consider anything with him, no matter how attracted to him I am._

She’d given up on trying to convince herself that she was not attracted to him. One didn’t get to be a captain in Space Fleet if one was prone to self-deception. Fortunately, one also didn’t get to be a captain without incredible willpower, so she would simply resist any temptation. As long as her subconscious didn’t sneak up on her anymore with requests to meet him for dinner, she’d be fine.

With a sigh, she turned back to the reports she’d been working on.

* * *

Lieutenant Mei Utada sat at the mess table, trying to make small talk with the man she’d fallen for - her alpha-watch companion, Lieutenant Ravi Rai. She loved his sense of organization and his brilliant math skills that frequently let him run the math for navigation faster than the computer. She longed to entangle her fingers in his curly hair, but knew that any attempt to to kindle a relationship could make their shifts together awkward.

She was interrupted by a deep male voice behind her, asking if he could join them. Startled, she looked up and found the new first officer, Commander Kepheus Connors.

“Certainly, Commander,” Ravi said before she could respond.

“Thank you,” he said, taking the seat next to her. “So what’s the word on the cooks - what meals are worth waiting for, and what should be avoided?”

“You lucked out,” Mei said, pointing to the Fintarian devil-chicken casserole on his tray. “The cooks do a good job with devil-chicken. Just watch out for the gelatin. There’s rumors that it’s sentient.”

“That is ludicrous,” Ravi said. “If it were sentient, then we would be committing a Directive Alpha violation by eating it.”

“For what it’s worth, they claim the gelatin is sentient on every ship,” the captain said, coming up from behind them. “Mind if I join you?”

Kepheus, his mouth full, gestured toward the empty seat across from him, and the captain sat with a smile.

 _That’s weird. I can’t say I’ve ever seen the Captain smile like that,_ Mei thought.

Kepheus asked the Captain about her childhood, and it turned out that they’d grown up near each other on Dansworld, in the Tri-Planet Area. Rei and Ravi finished their meals, and bid the two senior officers a good evening as they kept talking, staring into each other’s faces.

 _If they weren’t the captain and first officer, I’d swear they were about ready to jump each other tonight,_ Mei thought. Shaking her head, she looked at Ravi. “So what are your plans for the night?” she asked Ravi.

“I just received the latest issue of the Eridani Mathematical Review when we picked up the Commander, so I was going to go read that,” he said, turning down the corridor toward his quarters.

“Sounds like fun,” Mei said unenthusiastically. “See you tomorrow.”

* * *

Kepheus sat next to Anna in the conference room on station Psi-2, listening to the briefing and decidedly _not_ focusing on the incredible woman sitting next to him. And if he kept telling himself that, maybe it’d be true.

“We have reason to believe that the pirates are deliberately targeting Space Fleet command staff,” the admiral said. Turning toward Anna and Kepheus, he continued, “There is some evidence that the attacks on Commander Abernathy and the command crew of the Shangri-La were part of this.”

Anna nodded gravely.

“To that end, Command asks that command staff please minimize time on shore parties until the pirates have been tracked down.”

“Is there any indication that the pirates have moles in Space Fleet?” the captain of the ASV K’Val asked.

“Nothing concrete,” the admiral said, “but there’s certainly some disturbing indications. Space Fleet Intelligence continues to investigate.”

Kepheus sat back, thinking, and typed out a quick search on his tablet during a coffee break.

* * *

Anna eased the hypershuttle out of its berth at Station Psi-2, trying to ignore the thought that she was sharing a hypershuttle with her first officer for the next eight hours. Her handsome, intelligent first officer, with whom she was _not_ going to fall in love. Willpower was the key. She had plenty of willpower. She just needed another eight hours' worth _right now_.

“I got a list of which command staff were going farthest by hypershuttle,” Kepheus said from the seat next to her. “We have the longest trip. If there’s a mole, they may try to ambush us.”

Anna nodded. “That makes sense. I have an idea what to do about that...”

* * *

Kepheus was too busy chatting with Anna to notice it for a few seconds. They were about three hours into their hypershuttle trip, preoccupied with small talk about their academy experiences, when an energy signature suddenly appeared from behind a nearby asteroid.

The controls bleeped, and Kepheus looked up sharply. “The pirate’s early. I figured we had another hour or so.”

“What is it?” Anna asked, turning back to her controls.

“Converted Lambda-class freighter. Looks like boosted engines and weaponry...it’s charging phase blasters.”

“Evasive maneuvers,” Anna said, twisting the hypershuttle toward the asteroid belt they were skirting the edge of. A phase blaster shot just missed them, then another.

“Guess they don’t want us alive,” Kepheus said, trying to reinforce their shields without diverting any of the power Anna needed to keep them from being hit.

“No more than they wanted Abernathy,” Anna said through clenched teeth. Another phase blaster shot hit the asteroid they were dodging around, and shrapnel bounced off the shields, causing the hull to ring.

“We need to keep from getting hit for...about an hour,” Kepheus said. “I’ve got an idea. Take us toward that large asteroid over there.”

Anna piloted over, keeping smaller asteroids between her and the Lambda as much as possible.

“Now sneak around the back,” he said, “and...there. Head for that little cave there.”

Skillfully, Anna piloted the hypershuttle into the little crevice.

“Shut down everything. Even life support. These little shuttles can become almost a hole in space, practically invisible to sensors.”

Anna nodded, seeing his idea. “We should have enough oxygen for an hour or two. What about temperature, though? The cold of space will suck the heat right out of the hypershuttle.”

“There’s a thermal blanket in the emergency pack. But...I think we’ll have to share it.”

“...oh,” Anna said softly.

 _I don’t want this any more than you do,_ Kepheus thought. _I mean, I do, the idea of sharing the blanket with you sounds great, but we’re Space Fleet officers, and we can’t get involved. No matter how much we may want to._

* * *

They’d tried lying side-by-side on the small emergency berth, but the blanket didn’t sufficiently cover them that way. Lying face-to-face was far too awkward with their arms at their sides, and lying back-to-back felt too impersonal. So they found themselves sharing the blanket with their arms around each other. _Purely for warmth, of course,_ Anna thought. _Because if it were for any other reason, I’d be giving in to this need to kiss him. But I can’t do that. He’s an officer under my command, and I need to be above mere hormones and emotions._

He shifted a bit in her arms, and she felt something stiff poke her in the hip. “Commander?” she said, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s my phase blaster, I swear,” he said quickly.

She laughed. _He knows. He feels the same way. And he isn’t doing anything about it for the same reasons._ Somehow, she found this comforting - knowing that her feelings were reciprocated, even if neither of them could act on them right now.

A little niggling thought in the back of her head came to the fore. “So, how will we know when the Hornet gets here?”

“Bowyer will know how to get in contact with us using my multiscanner. It’s a trick we used back in the Academy.”

* * *

“Commander, there is an unidentified Lambda-class freighter that appears to be searching an asteroid belt near the captain’s planned trajectory,” Lieutenant de Groot said from his position at Tactical. “Its transponders are off.”

Magda grinned from the command chair. “Scan the freighter. I think we may have our pirates.”

“Upgraded engines and phase blasters. They’ve spotted us and are trying to move out of the asteroid belt.”

“Ms. Utada, bring us in as fast as you can. Mr. de Groot, take us to TacCon Alpha.” Sirens started sounding, bringing the ship to battle stations. “Tactical analysis - can we take them?”

“An upgunned freighter can take on civilians, but they’d get smeared by a Space Fleet ship,” de Groot answered.

“Will we be in range before they can get clear?” Magda asked.

“It’s gonna be close,” de Groot said.

“Hail them,” Magda said.

de Groot pressed several buttons on his panel. “Channel open.”

Magda straightened up and looked into the viewscreen. “Unidentified vessel, this is the ASV Hornet. You are ordered to power down for customs inspection under Space Alliance Transportation Code Section 17(b).”

“Channel closed at their end,” de Groot said. “They’re powering weapons. We’ll be in range to fire in 30 seconds.”

“Execute Delta-3 as soon as we’re in range,” Magda said, leaning forward in the command chair.

“In range...now,” de Groot said, pressing a button on his controls.

Three beams of bright-yellow fire came from the Hornet’s phase blasters, striking the Lambda and damaging it heavily. The portside engine flickered out, and the freighter’s forward progress suddenly slowed as it began drifting to a stop.

“Direct hit,” de Groot said. “Their engines are offline.”

Magda gave a vicious grin. “Hail them again. Maybe they’re feeling more cooperative.”

* * *

Oxygen was getting low, and Kepheus found himself dozing a bit. _If I have to go, at least it’ll be with the woman I’ve fallen for._ He’d never be able to admit it to her, but he had to admit his feelings to himself.

“We’re going to need to power up soon for life support,” she said softly. “Hopefully we can get moving quickly enough that they won’t be able to pin us down before we can move to another hiding spot.”

Kepheus’s multiscanner, sitting next to their narrow berth, bleeped four times in a long-short-long-short pattern, and he sat up quickly. “That’s Bowyer. They’re here and looking for us, and it’s clear for us to power up.”

Anna stood up and headed for the controls as he headed back into the engine compartment. Bringing the main reactor up, he felt the warm breeze as life support came back online and started refreshing the stale air.

“Sensors online,” Anna said as he returned to his seat next to hers. “The Lambda looks pretty banged up, and the Hornet is untouched.”

“Let’s take her home, then,” he said.

* * *

Anna and Kepheus arrived on the bridge; Magda stood aside so that Anna could take over the center seat.

“We came back along your projected track, and when we didn’t find you at the halfway point we figured you’d been interrupted. The Lambda was still sniffing around for you when we arrived; by luring them into the asteroid belt, you made it so they couldn’t just hyperspeed away,” Magda reported.

She continued, “Teams are analyzing the Lambda’s computers, but we got the core intact so we’re hoping to be able to nail down their base. We’ve sent our preliminary findings to Space Fleet Intelligence, and they’re sending a computer forensics team out to take the ship back to Station Psi-2.”

“Sounds like you wrapped this up for us while we were gone. Well done, Commander. And well done for you as well, Commander Bowyer. Glad you remembered the multiscanner trick.”

The green-haired Hephaestan nodded his head in acknowledgement.

* * *

That night, Anna lay in her bed. _Nine months. And then he gets reassigned, and a relationship between us isn’t fraternization. Even if we only get to see each other every few months...we can at least be honest with each other about our feelings._

_This is going to be a long nine months._

* * *

**Thanks for reading this far! I hope to get more stories about the Hornet out soon! Kudos and comments are always welcome!**

* * *

* * *

Phineas finished reading the story, and looked at Ferb, puzzled. “So, I see where a bunch of our friends are in the story - the captain is Isabella, Magda is Gretchen, and Bowyer is obviously you, for example.”

Ferb nodded.

“So where am I in the story? And who’s Kepheus supposed to be?”

Ferb looked at him in disbelief, then sighed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes.

“No, I’m serious. Kepheus is clearly somebody Isabella is interested in, given how blatant the romantic tension is between them. It’s not me, Kepheus is _way_ too handsome and smooth to be me. Is it Bryan Anderson, that guy who keeps pestering Isabella for a date?”

Ferb just stared at him.

Phineas scanned through the story again. “Okay, Kepheus has red hair, and a funky Greek first name with an Irish last name. So probably not Bryan - he’s blond. Who do I know with red hair and Greek and Irish names?”

Ferb put his head in his hands and said, “Remember, this is how Isabella sees the person, not necessarily how you do. Your first two questions are more related than you think.”

Phineas grabbed his phone and got ready to call Isabella, wondering what Ferb’s last comment meant. _My first two questions...so who Kepheus is is related to where I am in...the story._

_Oh._

_This is how Isabella sees me?_

_But that means..._

_How long has this been going on?_

_That far back?_

“Ferb? Have I been missing a lot of very blatant clues? For years?”

Ferb pointed to the phone in his hand, to indicate that he should ask Isabella.

Phineas took the phone up to his room. He suspected he’d want some privacy for this conversation.

* * *

Isabella sat back in her desk chair, poking at ideas for her next story. She wasn’t sure where she wanted to go with it, but knew it wasn’t going to be as easy to capture the pirate base as they all hoped.

_Maybe Phineas will get the hint eventually._

_Knowing him, he probably decided that Kepheus was supposed to be Bryan. I tried to make my feelings on Bryan obvious by naming the dead first officer Byron, but I bet he missed that._

Her phone rang; it was Ginger.

“ISABELLA!” her friend shouted over the phone. “Why did you write that about me liking Baljeet? He’s going to read it!”

“Baljeet reads Space Adventure fanfic?”

“Baljeet, the first sixteenth level Space Adventure trivia master in the world? Yes, he reads Space Adventure fanfic.”

“Oh. I’m sorry, Ginger. I didn’t realize...”

She was interrupted by a squeal on the other end of the line. “Oh my God!” Ginger said. “He’s walking up to my house with flowers! Gottagobye!” A beep indicated the end of the call.

_Well, at least it worked out for somebody._

Her phone rang again; it was Bryan. She needed to find who gave him her number and punish them suitably.

“Hi, Bryan,” she said, resigned. If she didn’t answer him now, he’d just keep calling and leaving voice mail until he finally got through; might as well get it over with.

“Hey, I read that story you wrote. It’s so cute that you write these little things. It’s almost like you’re really going to be a writer! How about you and me go celebrate at Mr. Slushy Dawg?” he said smugly.

“No, Bryan.”

“Aw, come on. It’ll be fun, and you still owe me a date, you know.”

“I don’t owe you a date, Bryan, you decided you deserved one. The answer is still no.”

Her phone beeped to indicate another incoming call.

“I have another call, Bryan. Goodbye.” She switched over, seeing the new call was from Phineas.

“Hey, Phineas. What’cha doin’?”

He sounded nervous for some reason. “Hi, Isabella? I read your story. Um...”

“What?” she asked, puzzled.

“Have I been _really_ dense and missing a whole heck of a lot of clues? Because if that’s the case, a lot of things just explained themselves.”

She suddenly felt worried that she’d pushed too far. “...yes? Yes, you have?” _Please don’t be upset..._

“I’m so sorry, Isabella.”

 _He doesn't return my feelings. I should have guessed._ “It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not. It must have hurt you for me not to realize, and I don't ever want to hurt you. I’m really sorry. I don’t really know anything about romance or relationships,” he said apologetically.

“No, you don’t.”

“Isabella...would you be willing to teach me? Because the one thing I do know is that the one person I’d like to learn about relationships with...is you.”

 _He likes me!_ “Yes! Yes, I would! Should I come over so we can talk about this in person?” she said excitedly.

“I think I’d really like that,” he said.

**Author's Note:**

> Random notes: yes, the Star Wars and Stargate references in the asteroid belt scenes were deliberate. (On my part, at least. I’m less sure on Isabella’s.) In particular, "It's my phase blaster, I swear," is a tribute to one of the most UST-laden relationships ever on TV, Jack O'Neill and Samantha Carter on Stargate SG-1.
> 
> Yeah, I know, I complain about ‘I never realized you love me, but now that I do, I love you back’. Sometimes, you just need to go where the story leads. (And I did try to make him jump in a bit more slowly than that.)
> 
> Yes, there's a couple plot holes in Isabella's story. The plot isn't her top priority here.
> 
> The ASV Hornet is named for the USS Hornet (CV-12), an Essex-class aircraft carrier whose career ranged from the Pacific front during World War II to picking up the Apollo 11 and 12 astronauts after they splashed down upon their return to Earth. (The Shangri-La, Kepheus's old ship, is also named for an Essex-class ship.) The Hornet is now a museum ship in Alameda.
> 
> There may be more stories about the ASV Hornet and her crew.


End file.
